Cops Say Blades In Melons A `Prank' By Teen Workers

June 08, 1995|By G.J. Zemaitis, Special to the Tribune.

Two 17-year-old employees of a Lombard grocery put razor blades in watermelons to create bad publicity for their employer, police said Wednesday.

Erin G. Phipps, of 323 S. Stewart Ave., and Christopher J. Smyth, of 561 S. Fairfield Ave., both of Lombard, were arrested and charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct, said Lombard Police Chief Leon Kutzke. The youths were not charged with a felony because there is no proof they intended to physically hurt anyone, he said.

"It was essentially a prank by the two of them because they were upset with their employer," Kutzke said.

Phipps, a junior at Glenbard East High School in Lombard, and Smyth, a junior at Willowbrook High School in Villa Park, were employed as stock clerks at Mr. Z's Supermarket, 401 S. Main St.

"Our customers were shocked when they heard about the watermelons," said Steve Zeidler, the store owner's son.

The family opened the store in 1933 and has a loyal base of local customers, he said. The customers "rallied around us as they always do, whether it's a death in the family or when the store was picketed in the 1950s for selling what people believed were communist Polish hams," Zeidler said.

One of the youths was employed for a little more than six months and the second just under six months, said Zeidler, adding that both no longer work for the store.

Three watermelons were found with razor blades embedded in them Sunday afternoon by an employee who was slicing melons. Police said none of the melons was sold and no other food was tampered with.

"The razor blades they used were lying around in the back of the store and were used to open containers,"said Kutzke.

Because the melons showed signs of recent decay where the razors were pushed through, investigators determined they were tampered with at the store rather than brought in with a produce shipment.

"Both actively participated in the act," said Kutzke. "It was a childish and immature thing to do."

Kutzke said both teenagers expressed remorse for their actions when interviewed by detectives and one cried when told charges were to be filed.